I am picky about baked goods. When I bake, I eat more calories than I should, so I want the calories to be as delicious as they are fattening. I’ve tried a few different baking recipes over this past month and none of them really sang to me. They tasted good enough and my kids were grateful for the sweets, but since I don’t bake everyday or need to eat a cookie every afternoon, I kept searching for something better. 
The search led to these brownies. These brownies sing. These brownies are worth every buttery, salty, sugary calorie. They are full of chocolate and the caramel makes them the over-the-top dessert for your husband’s birthday, or lady’s lunch, or BBQ this summer when you have the time to spend creating a knock-out dessert. As I searched for a caramel cookie or brownie, I started with the caramel candies you buy in a bin and have to unwrap. These tasted OK inside a cookie, but not great and it takes half an afternoon to unwrap those candies. Making your own caramel sauce, letting it sit and harden just a little bit, then adding to a pan of brownie batter makes heaven in a pan. And, it really doesn’t take that much longer than the unwrap method. It tastes so much better and I think is a lot less frustrating then trying to peel off all those tiny pieces of plastic that get stuck on the candies. I started with my go-to brownie recipe, layered some salted caramel, dotted it with chocolate chips and a sprinkle of crunchy kosher salt. The picture below is what I made for my husband’s birthday and is gluten free. I made them earlier this week for my kids and me with wheat flour and I thought they were so delicious that they should be included in his birthday celebration because really they are better than cake. 
Tips: You want to make the caramel first, let it cool, then make the brownies. I am so bad at the “let it cool” step that I forced myself to do it by making caramel on day one and then the assembling the brownies on day two. If you don’t cool the caramel, it just mixes in with the brownie for a super moist, super sweet brownie. It’s good, but not as good as caramel oozing out of the brownie. Use good chocolate. I used unsweetened Baker’s baking chocolate because there is plenty of sweetness with the caramel. The quality of chocolate chips is important – I stick with Guittard or Ghiradelli.
To make the caramel sauce:
2 cups sugar
12 tablespoons salted butter
1 1/3 cups cream
1 teaspoon salt
Heat the sugar in a dry saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir with a rubber spatula. It will start getting clumpy, then start melting and finally turn a caramel color. When the sugar is the color of caramel, add the butter (the mixture will splatter, so be careful) and continue to stir until the butter is incorporated and the sugar has melted. This should take a couple of minutes.
Very slowly add the cream and continue to stir until the cream has been incorporated.
Let the mixture boil for one minute, then remove from the heat. Let the caramel sit for a good hour, or until it has cooled to room temperature and has hardened up a bit. Cover and put in the refrigerator if you are going to make the brownies on day 2, or once it is cooled, continue with the brownie recipe.
For the brownies:
1 cup salted butter
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups gluten free flour or wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons xantham gum for the gluten free version
1 1/2 cups good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler, or be very careful and melt over low heat in a medium saucepan on your stove top. Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar has been incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until the egg has been fully incorporated before adding the additional egg. Stir in the vanilla.
If making these gluten free, stir together the gluten-free flour and xantham gum in a bowl, then add the flour mixture one cup at a time to the chocolate mixture. If you are not making the brownies gluten-free, just add the flour one cup at a time, directly to the pot and stir until there are no streaks remaining.
Wait about ten minutes, go do the dishes, wipe down the counter and then come back to the brownies and add 1 cup of chocolate chips. If you add the chocolate chips too early, they will just melt into the batter. This isn’t a bad thing, but I like it better when they don’t melt.
To combine for the salted caramel brownies:
Butter and flour a 9X13 pan. Pour half the brownie batter into the pan. Use a rubber spatula to get the batter evenly spread across the pan.
Now take a spoon you’d eat cereal with and plop the caramel onto the brownies in about 2 teaspoon sized dollops, evenly spaced. I made about 12 of these dollops in my pan.Take a knife and gently spread the caramel to try and even things out, but try not to get the brownie batter and caramel mixed together. There should be splotches of just brownie.
Now add the remaining brownie batter and spread even with the rubber spatula. Add the same number of dollops of caramel. Try and smooth things out again like before. Take about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and drop them evenly over the brownies. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. The brownies are done when a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few little specks of brownie on it. Don’t overcook! You will have extra caramel sauce. This is for apples or to make the best brownie sundae ever. Yes, you should thank me. 
- For the Caramel:
- 2 cups sugar
- 12 tablespoons salted butter
- 1⅓ cups cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter
- For the Brownies:
- 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups gluten free flour or wheat flour
- 1½ teaspoons xantham gum for the gluten free version
- 1½ cups good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
- For the caramel:
- Heat the sugar in a dry saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir with a rubber spatula. It will start getting clumpy, then start melting and finally turn a caramel color. When the sugar is the color of caramel, add the butter (the mixture will splatter, so be careful) and continue to stir until the butter is incorporated and the sugar has melted. This should take a couple of minutes.
- Very slowly add the cream and continue to stir until the cream has been incorporated. Let the mixture boil for one minute, then remove from the heat.
- Let the caramel sit for a good hour, or until it has cooled to room temperature and has hardened up a bit. Cover and put in the refrigerator if you are going to make the brownies on day 2, or once it is cooled, continue with the brownie recipe.
- For the brownies:
- Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler, or be very careful and melt over low heat in a medium saucepan on your stove top. Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar has been incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until the egg has been fully incorporated before adding the additional egg. Stir in the vanilla.
- If making these gluten free, stir together the gluten-free flour and xantham gum in a bowl, then add the flour mixture one cup at a time to the chocolate mixture. If you are not making the brownies gluten-free, just add the flour one cup at a time, directly to the pot and stir until there are no streaks remaining.
- Wait about ten minutes, go do the dishes, wipe down the counter and then come back to the brownies and add 1 cup of chocolate chips. If you add the chocolate chips too early, they will just melt into the batter. This isn't a bad thing, but I like it better when they don't melt.
- To combine for the salted caramel brownies:
- Butter and flour a 9X13 pan. Pour half the brownie batter into the pan. Use a rubber spatula to get the batter evenly spread across the pan.
- Now take a spoon you'd eat cereal with and plop the caramel onto the brownies in about 2 teaspoon sized dollops, evenly spaced. I made about 12 of these dollops in my pan.Take a knife and gently spread the caramel to try and even things out, but try not to get the brownie batter and caramel mixed together. There should be splotches of just brownie.
- Now add the remaining brownie batter and spread even with the rubber spatula. Add the same number of dollops of caramel. Try and smooth things out again like before. Take about ½ cup of chocolate chips and drop them evenly over the brownies. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. The brownies are done when a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few little specks of brownie on it. Don't overcook!
- You will have extra caramel sauce. This is for apples or to make the best brownie sundae ever. Yes, you should thank me.
This recipe is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays